Anheuser-Busch InBev profits boom even as U.S. struggles continue and China sales fall

By Steve Goldstein

Anheuser-Busch InBev reported booming profits on Thursday thanks to cost cutting even as the brewer still wrestles with a consumer boycott of Bud Light in the U.S.

Its profit surged to $1.47 billion from $339 million in the year-earlier quarter.

On what it calls an underlying basis, its profit jumped 25% to $1.81 billion, or 90 cents a share, on 3% revenue growth to $15.33 billion.

Analysts polled by Visible Alpha expected an underlying profit of 83 cents a share on revenue of $15.46 billion.

It reiterated its full-year guidance of organic EBITDA growing between 4% and 8%.

Brussels-listed AB InBev (BE:ABI) (BUD) shares rose 2%, though they're down 4% on the year.

The profit boost came even as volumes fell, by 1% on a comparable basis, including a 3% decline in North America and an even steeper 8% drop in Asia Pacific, which was partly offset by volume growth in Central and South America, Europe and Africa.

In the U.S., where a full year has now elapsed since the Dylan Mulvaney social-media post that led to Bud Light sales tumbling, revenue still fell, though the company said it gained market share in May and June, helped by demand for Michelob Ultra and Busch Light.

Its U.S. earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization however surged 17.5% on cost cutting.

Like rival Heineken (NL:HEIA), the company also faced pressure in China, where revenue tumbled 15.2% in the second quarter.

-Steve Goldstein

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08-01-24 0400ET

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